Thief

The Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 pairing delivers a consistently playable experience in Thief, though the data clearly shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. With a 6-core, 12-thread Comet Lake processor clocking up to 4.30 GHz, the CPU provides ample headroom for this 2014 stealth title, while the RDNA 4.0-based graphics card handles the visual workload with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The benchmark results reveal a system that excels at 1080p, remains very capable at 1440p, and struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K Ultra settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-10400F is built on the Comet Lake architecture using a 14 nm process, featuring 6 physical cores and 12 threads. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz can boost up to 4.30 GHz, which is more than sufficient for Thief's engine, a game that predates the widespread use of multi-core optimization. The processor's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth provide a solid foundation for feeding the GPU.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-10400F posts a single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and 1451 in Cinebench R23, indicating strong per-core performance that matters for older titles like Thief which often rely heavily on a few threads. The multi-threaded results are equally respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 6257. This CPU's overall average benchmark score of 14185 places it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs tested, putting it slightly ahead of the Intel Xeon 6756E (by 0.2%) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (by 0.5%), while trailing the Intel Core 7 160UL by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.6%.

For Thief, the data suggests the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. The game's frame rates scale almost entirely with graphics settings and resolution, which is typical for a title from this era. The processor's 12 threads ensure that background tasks and game logic do not cause stutters, and its 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and max-thread score of 4735 show consistent performance across all cores. The Passmark physics score of 696 further indicates adequate computational power for the game's physics simulations. While a newer CPU might offer higher raw scores, the i5-10400F's capabilities align well with the demands of this specific title, allowing the RX 9060 to operate near its full potential without being held back.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is a modern graphics card built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a 4 nm process. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 28 ray tracing cores. The GPU's game clock is rated at 2400 MHz, with a boost clock of up to 2990 MHz, and it houses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for Thief at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows it becomes a limitation at 4K with higher settings.

The RX 9060's synthetic benchmark scores place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 16014. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129 (0.7% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, which scores 15852 (1% lower). In DirectX 11 tests, the card scores 182 in Passmark, and in DirectX 12 it scores 44, showing that its performance is more consistent with modern APIs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 indicates strong raw compute power for a card in this class.

In Thief, the GPU's role is paramount. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: at 1080p, the card is capable of high frame rates, but at 4K, the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become strained. The card's 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than enough for this game's shaders, but the memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s is the limiting factor when pushing higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are also sufficient for the game's visual effects, but the data indicates that the GPU is the component that determines whether the experience is smooth or choppy at the highest settings.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance drop as resolution increases, which is a clear indicator of GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 99 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops the average to 68 FPS, a reduction of 31 FPS. At 4K High, the average falls to 40 FPS, a further drop of 28 FPS. This scaling pattern shows that the GPU is working progressively harder at each higher resolution, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

The Low settings preset provides a clearer picture of the CPU's ceiling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 125 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 110 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 69 FPS. The smaller relative drop between 1080p and 1440p Low (15 FPS) compared to the drop from 1440p to 4K Low (41 FPS) suggests that the CPU can sustain a high frame rate but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become overwhelmed at 4K, even with reduced graphical fidelity.

The Medium settings row shows the most balanced scaling. From 1080p Medium at 113 FPS to 1440p Medium at 89 FPS, the drop is 24 FPS. From 1440p to 4K Medium, the drop is 37 FPS, bringing the average down to 52 FPS. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings also highlight this trend: 96 FPS at 1080p, 76 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The maximum FPS values of 130 at 1080p, 102 at 1440p, and 60 at 4K further confirm that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K.

This data strongly suggests that the RX 9060 is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K. The CPU's 3DMark scores and benchmark results indicate it can handle frame rates well above 100 FPS in this title, but the GPU's memory bandwidth and VRAM capacity prevent it from maintaining those frame rates at higher resolutions. For users with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, this combo is well-balanced, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured frame rates for this combo in Thief are as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average FPS of 125. The Medium preset averages 113 FPS, with a minimum of 96 and a maximum of 130. High settings produce an average of 99 FPS, while Ultra settings bring the average down to 94 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 31 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough headroom to handle all presets with playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 110 FPS. The Medium preset averages 89 FPS, with a minimum of 76 and a maximum of 102. High settings average 68 FPS, and Ultra settings average 65 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 45 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of higher resolutions. The minimum FPS of 76 at Medium is still smooth, but the Ultra preset's lack of recorded minimum values suggests potential instability.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 69 FPS. The Medium preset averages 52 FPS, with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 60. High settings average 40 FPS, and Ultra settings average 38 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 31 FPS, but the absolute values are much lower. The Medium preset's minimum of 45 FPS is on the edge of playability, while High and Ultra presets fall below the 60 FPS threshold and approach the 30 FPS territory.

The data shows that the combo is most comfortable at 1080p, where even Ultra settings maintain an average above 90 FPS. At 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 89 FPS and a minimum of 76 FPS. At 4K, only the Low preset manages to stay above 60 FPS, and the Medium preset is borderline playable with a minimum of 45 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1855 out of 2851 tested combos for Thief. This places it in the 35th percentile of all tested system configurations, meaning roughly 65% of the tested combos perform better in this game. The rank is a holistic measure of the system's overall performance across all settings and resolutions, and it reflects the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions.

The combo's rank of 1855 is influenced by the RX 9060's position in the GPU hierarchy. The card's average score of 16014 places it just below the RTX 3060 Ti, which is a popular mid-range card. However, the i5-10400F's 68th percentile CPU ranking helps to lift the overall system score. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Xeon 6756E and AMD EPYC 7552, have similar average scores, indicating that the processor is not a weak link in this configuration.

The rank suggests that while this combo is capable of running Thief, it is not among the top performers. The 4K results, where the GPU struggles to maintain 60 FPS even at Medium settings, drag down the overall ranking. In contrast, the 1080p results, where the combo averages over 94 FPS on all presets, show that it would rank much higher if the benchmark only considered lower resolutions. The rank of 1855 out of 2851 is a fair representation of a mid-range system that excels at 1080p and is adequate for 1440p, but is not optimized for 4K gaming.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the user's display resolution and preference for frame rate stability versus visual fidelity.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice. With an average FPS of 94 and no recorded minimum dips below 90, this preset provides the best visual quality while maintaining a smooth and responsive experience. The High preset at 99 FPS offers a slight performance boost, but the difference of 5 FPS is negligible compared to the visual improvements of Ultra. The Medium preset at 113 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a high refresh rate monitor and wants to push beyond 110 FPS, but the game's engine may not benefit significantly from frame rates above 100.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality. With an average of 89 FPS and a minimum of 76 FPS, this preset ensures that frame rates remain above the 60 FPS threshold even in demanding scenes. The High preset at 68 FPS is still playable, but the minimum FPS data is not recorded, which could indicate occasional dips below 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 65 FPS is marginal, and the lack of minimum FPS data makes it a riskier choice. The Low preset at 110 FPS is smooth but sacrifices too much visual detail for the modest performance gain over Medium.

For 4K displays, the Low preset is the only option that guarantees a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 69 FPS. The Medium preset at 52 FPS is playable, but the minimum of 45 FPS means there will be noticeable stuttering in busy scenes. High and Ultra presets, with averages of 40 and 38 FPS respectively, fall below the 60 FPS threshold and are not recommended for a fluid experience. Users with 4K displays should either accept the visual compromises of the Low preset or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p to take advantage of the Medium preset's better balance.

In summary, the data recommends Ultra at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K for the best experience with this hardware combination. The combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its limitations at 4K are clear from the measured frame rates.